Around the beginning of the first millennium BCE, iron replaced copper as the main material for producing tools and weapons in ancient Israel. While archaeologists have found ample evidence about where ancient Canaanite and Israelite copper came from and how it was smelted, they know much less about iron. A group of scientists are now trying a novel way to solve the mystery, writes Nir Hasson. (Free registration may be required.)

Excavations around Israel have unearthed the rusted remains of ancient iron tools and, in some places, slag from iron production as well. But the scientists know little about where the iron ore was mined, how the iron-bearing ore was processed as a raw material, and how it was then smelted.

There are, however, only so many ways the people in Judah and ancient Israel could have generated temperatures high enough to extract the iron from ore, and last week Adi Eliyahu of Ariel University set out to recreate the long-forgotten process. The first stage was to gather iron-rich rocks, which was done from two streams in the Negev, Nekarot and Paran. Rocks with iron can be identified by their reddish hue.

The next stage was to heat the rocks in an open fire, which reached a temperature of about 900 degrees Fahrenheit. Then the hot rocks were pulverized into fine gravel, which was placed into a tall, narrow kiln, made of strong clay, together with coal. The kiln had an opening for ventilation. At its bottom, this crude furnace could reach a temperature of 2,300 degrees. . . .

Not one single ancient facility to make iron has been discovered in Israel. One theory is that this is because the ancient furnaces were used exactly once: they would be destroyed in order to extract the purified iron from their insides.

For some time, opponents of U.S support for Israel have been urging the White House to end the war in Gaza, or simply calling for a ceasefire. Douglas Feith and Lewis Libby consider what such a result would actually entail:

Ending the war immediately would allow Hamas to survive and retain military and governing power. Leaving it in the area containing the Sinai-Gaza smuggling routes would ensure that Hamas can rearm. This is why Hamas leaders now plead for a ceasefire. A ceasefire will provide some relief for Gazans today, but a prolonged ceasefire will preserve Hamas’s bloody oppression of Gaza and make future wars with Israel inevitable.

For most Gazans, even when there is no hot war, Hamas’s dictatorship is a nightmarish tyranny. Hamas rule features the torture and murder of regime opponents, official corruption, extremist indoctrination of children, and misery for the population in general. Hamas diverts foreign aid and other resources from proper uses; instead of improving life for the mass of the people, it uses the funds to fight against Palestinians and Israelis.

Moreover, a Hamas-affiliated website warned Gazans last month against cooperating with Israel in securing and delivering the truckloads of aid flowing into the Strip. It promised to deal with those who do with “an iron fist.” In other words, if Hamas remains in power, it will begin torturing, imprisoning, or murdering those it deems collaborators the moment the war ends. Thereafter, Hamas will begin planning its next attack on Israel:

Hamas’s goals are to overshadow the Palestinian Authority, win control of the West Bank, and establish Hamas leadership over the Palestinian revolution. Hamas’s ultimate aim is to spark a regional war to obliterate Israel and, as Hamas leaders steadfastly maintain, fulfill a Quranic vision of killing all Jews.

Hamas planned for corpses of Palestinian babies and mothers to serve as the mainspring of its October 7 war plan. Hamas calculated it could survive a war against a superior Israeli force and energize enemies of Israel around the world. The key to both aims was arranging for grievous Palestinian civilian losses. . . . That element of Hamas’s war plan is working impressively.